world would arrive if we went over the fiscal cliff, people in the market basically his surely they can't be that done. they're assuming it's going to get done. >> i think the markets are saying -- it's balanced 50/50. my personal opinion is it's a higher chance it won't happen. just as bill clinton managed to pin the blame for the government shutdown on newt gingrich and put the republicans in retreat, in terms of card playing, president obama has some cards that he can basically lay this off and perhaps it will fall to the blame -- fall on the republicans. that's why we think it could drift over the cliff. >> we'll see. i know you've been a champion of apple all year. we're going to ask you on the countdown if you'd still buy apple at these lower levels. that's still to come later. thank you, my friend. before we go to commercial here, some sad news for the business world and our family here at cnbc. saul steinberg, the father of our maria bartiromo, died earlier today at the age of 73. he was best known for launching a string of takeovers back in the 1980s. he was also an avid ar